On-site detection of equid alphaherpesvirus 3 in perineal and genital swabs of mares and stallions.

•The iiPCR and the real-time PCR for EHV-3 had comparable detection limits.•The LoD95% of the EHV3 iiPCR was 6 copies genome equivalents per reaction.•The EHV3 iiPCR did not react with any of 6 non-targeted equine pathogens.•Regarding the diagnostic performance, the two methods had 98.82% agreement.•The high sensitivity and specificity supports its use as an on-site screening test.